Los Angles Cop Mary O’Callaghan Found Guilty of Felony Assault

It’s been almost 3 years since AlesiaThomas died while in custody of the Los Angeles police. On July 22, 2012, Los Angeles police officer Mary O’Callaghan kicked Alesia in the groin, and jabbed her in the throat. Alesia, the mother of 2, died in the police vehicle. (Note: some sources report that the incident occurred in 2013. I am reporting the date given by the LA Times.)

Alesia had asked for an ambulance, but Officer Warner Carias, one of the first responding officers, testified that he thought Alesia was on drugs and faking medical distress. An ambulance was not called until 30 minutes later, after Alesia fell unconscious.

In October 2013, O’Callaghan was charged with a felony count of assault by a public officer.

On April 17, 2014, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Renee Korn ordered the 50-year old Mary O’Callaghan to stand trial. The prosecution’s case centered on the dashboard recording from a patrol car other than the one driven by O’Callaghan which captured O’Callaghan’s action, including her smoking a cigarette as she peeked inside the car at Alesia, who was handcuffed and legs tied with nylon hobble restraints.

O’Callaghan was not charged with voluntary nor involuntary manslaughter because the coroner’s office said it was unable to determine the cause of death.

Mary O’Callaghan

The court’s calendar began ticking.

In February of this year, the judge declared a mistrial. The mistrial came about because a sergeant told internal affairs that he witnessed the incident and told O’Callaghan to stop. That information had not come out previously, and the defense attorney, who claimed that the case was “political,” questioned why it took so long for the LAPD to come forward with the information. He accused the department of failing to legally disclose. A new pretrial hearing was scheduled for April 2, 2015.

The judicial system continued its process and there was a trial do-over.

Today, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of assault under color of authority. Thus far, there has been no report on O’Callaghan’s sentencing.

Jan,
Today, I couldn’t help but take a trip down memory lane. The Los Angeles police department is the same department that, in March 1991, beat Rodney King within an inch of his life, and a jury decided to let the officers walk. The feds charged the 4 officers, acquitting 2 and convicting 2. But now, we seldom see LE charged and it’s more likely when they do stand trial, that they are acquitted, not because of the evidence, but based on what they felt and jury biases towards victims.

Today, Alesia’s family received a semblance of justice, but there are other victims whose families won’t see any semblance because the officers, being investigated by their peers, are never charged.

No, the Kelly Thomas case happened in Fullerton, a city about 35 miles south of LA in Orange County, California.

And recently a judge who is unpopular with OC prosecutors because he plays by the rules, has disqualified all 250 prosecutors unfit to seek the death penalty in a salon shooting case in OC because of the deep corruption in the DA office.

I’m thrilled every time a cop finally gets charged for their misdeeds, even if they walk. Eventually, with enough public pressure, they’ll get convicted as well and we’ll see some reform, but we’re going to have to keep the pressure on. It’s definitely time to push back.

neighboring county however this issue is not just LAPD this is all Law Enforcement in California from north to south east to west if its not LAPD, then is Oakland PD or SFPD if not them its the CHP but it just seems to be a culture with in law enforcement that has been adopted and taught.

Allot of changes came to California in the past year just recently a bill was passed to ban the use of Grand Juries when it comes to officer involved incidents. They have decided to allow our elected officials eg: District Attorney, to handle the cases so that there is accountability. in other words no Ferguson like moves here, However this is just a small step in the right direction

It’s thought that as many as 1 in 4 people in the US may have some form of sociopathy or a borderline personality disorder. These types would surely be attracted to a profession in which they have power over people and can get away with anything.

Mindyme, good question. I am currently reading material written by a trainer/consultant of law enforcement and he addresses the methods used in academies. As soon as I complete it, I plan on blogging about it. It’s an eye-opener. LEO doesn’t see us a less than human but rather, enemies. Rather than construing their jobs as one enforcing laws, they see it as war zones giving them authority to destroy property and life.

Funny, I was thinking about how law enforcement has changed since the draft in America was removed, and the guy I found associates LE training academies with military boot camps and first experience with authority figures.

I have noticed, too, that when responsible thinkers offer constructive criticism for improving certain police departments many within those departments consider that a challenge to their authority and power.

I’m actually scared to watch this. seeing what happened to Dillon the other day is haunting me. Police are literally producing a MASSIVE supply of snuff films nowadays. its not normal to watch other ppl kill ppl. its not normal to see dead ppl unless you’re like a doctor or funeral director.

Kelly Thomas’ being beat & smothered to death while he cried was the first time I’d ever heard & seen cops do that & then I heard Trayvon beg for his life as Zimmerman murdered him on audio. then the media put Trayvon’s body on TV! I couldn’t believe it! Do you ever remember a time that an American News channel broadcasted a murdered MINOR CHILD’S BODY?! I’ve NEVER seen them do that before, nor since! they didn’t even show adult ppl’s bodies on those ID channel crime shows, much less anyone’s dead kid. now they did it to Mike Brown too.

OMG Its like the blair witch project its so scary! her eyes were terrified. by the time It took me to focus & orientate my eyes to what was happening it was over and all I really saw was her eyes & I heard her try to say something. omg its so horrible. such a total horror.